I teach science as a way to interact with nature, as a creative yet critical practice of asking falsifiable questions, and as an important and exciting means to understand our own place in the world. The following are some tenets I developed to guide my teaching.
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Motivate students to think like a paleontologist, an historical geologist, a sedimentologist. Have them experience the world views, questions, and skills inherent to each discipline.
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Encourage bold participation. Use non-graded exercises, classroom discussions, and activities whenever possible.
- Always highlight four foundations:
- The nature and uniqueness of scientific inquiry
- The unifying concepts and processes underlying each scientific discipline, such as inheritance, variation, and selection; the interrelationships among tectonics, atmosphere, oceans, and biosphere; and Hjulstrom’s Law, Walther’s Law, and sequence stratigraphy
- Particular case studies demonstrating how nature supports these principles, as well as when exceptions are important for clarifying these principles
- Scientific and cultural world views shaping how science advances, such as adaptationism/uniformitarianism and contingency/catastrophism
- Say it; say it again, say it differently. Design courses around these important, overriding foundations, and address them repeatedly throughout the course. Understanding develops through reiteration in changing contexts.
- Keep the focus on students. Engage students in active learning by having them reappraise their prior constructs and draw connections with their own observations and experiences.
- Learning is an action. Emphasize applying over memorizing, deconstructing and rebuilding complex ideas from first principles rather than reciting empty formulae, and practicing science rather than passively reading or hearing about it. Allow students to engage in their own process of discovery.
- Allow time for thoughtfulness. Use take-home exams and semester-long projects that use real-life and topical case studies and that foster synthesis of course material. During class, allow time for students to develop their thoughts and questions.
- Encourage written and oral communication. We best develop our thoughts and acknowledge our own understanding by writing and by teaching others.
- Be concrete. Go in the field, use local examples, use actual organisms and specimens, and draw on current topics whenever possible.
- We are mutual learners. Inform your own teaching methods through regular evaluation and self-reflection.
- Model curiosity. Inspire students to appreciate nature and to use this curiosity to pursue interesting questions when they leave the classroom.